Three journalists charged with sedition

Three journalists of the magazine Insider Weekly have been charged with sedition after the magazine accused close aides of President Olusegun Obasanjo of involvement with the criminal gangs that steal large volumes of crude oil, their lawyer said on Thursday. Osa Director, the editor-in-chief, and executive editors Janet Mba-Afolabi and Chuks Onwudinjo were arrested on Monday. They were charged before a magistrate court in Lagos on Wednesday for sedition and criminal defamation. Their lawyer, Festus Keyamo, said the three journalists had pleaded not guilty and were released on bail. The next court hearing of the case was set for 12 January 2004, he added. Keyamo said the offending article deemed offensive was published in the 24 November edition. Under the headline “Aso Rock in Bunkering Scandal,” it alleged that top officials in the Nigerian presidency were involved with the criminal syndicates that tap crude oil from pipelines in the Niger Delta for sale abroad. Aso Rock is the name of the official residence of the president in the capital Abuja. Government officials have estimated that up to 15 percent of Nigeria's two million barrels per day oil production is skimmed off illegally by bunkering and other forms of theft. The trade in stolen oil has been blamed for the proliferation of guns in the delta. The influx of weapons has fuelled ethnic violence and criminal activity in the swampy oil producing region. Keyamo said the charge of sedition “does not make sense.” He recalled that Nigeria's original sedition law, passed in 1917 by the British colonial administration, was expunged from the statute books after independence after the courts ruled it to be inconsistent with constitutional provisions for freedom of expression.